11-01-2018, 09:05 AM
(10-31-2018, 08:27 PM)Canard Wrote: I thought I've made it pretty clear many times, but, again, in a nutshell:
- Toronto transit planing agency Metrolinx (ML) ordered 182 Light Rail Vehicles (LRV's) from Bombardier - which Bombardier essentially "invented" just for Toronto, knowing they could land a huge order (wise move). They plucked their FLEXITY 2 from Europe, tweaked the design for North America, and called it FLEXITY Freedom.
- These 182 vehicles were ordered for the 7 "Transit City" LRT lines in Toronto.
- On his first day in office, Rob Ford cancelled all but 1 of these lines (Eglinton Crosstown, or ECT) - leaving ML with far too many LRV's.
- The Region, meanwhile, (smartly) said "hey, we need 14 LRV's... we'll take some of those" - ML happily obliged. 14 of the 182 were shifted from ML being the customer to the Region of Waterloo (ROW).
- ML was on the hook for providing the "Specialized Equipment" for these LRV's - the safety and singling system by which the LRV communicates with the wayside (trackside) stuff, like signals and crossing arms and so on.
- Meanwhile, the design of the ECT changed significantly from a surface route to mostly subway, at Rob Ford's direction, causing a huge delay. ML had no need for trains on the original timeline and didn't submit any further specifications to Bombardier - knowing that they would have nowhere to physically put the trains, had Bombardier built them on the original schedule.
- Meanwhile, ROW desperately needs trains - but Bombardier was stuck in the middle. They had no spec to build to, and couldn't help us out.
- ML wanted out of the 182 LRV order - and couldn't get out of it, because it was a contract, so sued BBD for breach of contract, hoping to get out of it.
- The judge sided with Bombardier, but a new contract was formed, around the actual number of LRV's that ML needed for Crosstown.
- Meanwhile, an in-cab singling system still hadn't been selected or developed. The Region was now about a year behind in opening ION.
- Frantic, the Region worked with Bombardier and Grandlinq to source an off-the-shelf solution, which they did. Bombardier has been working closely and offering help installing this equipment for the Region, sending tools and personnel from Millhaven to speed up work, having it done here.
- Now we are here.
THANK YOU for this! I've always been a little unclear on a lot of the details and trying to sort through it all is tough.